“The storm struck Saturday night with 60 mph winds and officially left 11.4 inches of snow in Central Park, which is adjacent to the store’s glass cube entrance. Inside, maintenance personnel mopped the occasional water dripping from the glass cube onto the stone floor. Outside, a crew successfully used a mini-snowplow to keep ahead of the snowfall.”

Residents of Madrid, Spain are concerned about the future of an old advertising sign. “Tio Pepe” overlooked Plaza del Sol for 76 years, before being removed from the roof of its building as construction began on a new Apple Store. The advertiser’s contract is scheduled to expire in June, and the building’s owners are not interested in renewing it. The sign has been in storage since its removal.

It sounds silly but reminds me of Boston’s Citgo sign. If it were to disappear, I’d miss it. Citgo agrees:

“Citgo holds an especially important place in Boston. The illuminated sign in Kenmore Square has become a landmark on the Boston skyline. It graces left field at Fenway Park and has seen thousands of athletes to the finish line at the Boston Marathon. It also serves as an excellent orientation point when people are lost in the city.”

In fact, the Citgo sign has overseen the birth of many Bostonians:

“At one time, the sign was visible from the maternity ward at Beth Israel Hospital, where mothers-to-be timed their contractions by its pulsing flash in the evening sky.”

When I moved to Boston in 1994 and didn’t know a soul, the Citgo sign was visible from my window. I used it as an orientation point when I was learning my way around the city. Walking towards it always led me home.

Rene Ritche at iMore visited an Apple Store today and noticed that the “kid’s table” featured four iPads where the iMacs used to be (above). I don’t know when that change happened, or if it’s policy across all Apple Stores. Let me know what you find at your local Apple Store.

The Apple Stores have featured a kids table since the first one debuted in 2001. Below is a screenshot of Steve Jobs giving a tour of the very first store in California. You can see the kids iMacs behind him. Watch the full video after the break.

Apple has released version 2.1 of its Apple Store app for iPhone (free). A new “account” feature lets users update their billing and shipping information right from the app. Until now, you had to open a browser to make those changes. Version 2.1 also introduces the app to the Netherlands.

I recently used the app’s EasyPay feature at the Hingham, Ma Apple Store. It felt so much like stealing, that I was compelled to show an employee what I bought before I left. “It’s OK,” she said. “We trust you.”

“A retail chain could help Apple boost sales — an important concern after the company surprised Wall Street late yesterday by announcing that its quarterly revenue and profit will be far lower than expected.

A chain of Apple stores would help bolster what many see as a weakness in Apple’s strategy: distribution…’Distribution is one facet of Apple’s business that deserves management attention,’ said David Bailey, an analyst at Gerard Klauer Mattison & Co. If Apple doesn’t develop more distribution channels, he said, ‘that could potentially hamper Apple’s growth.’

When I saw these photos of the forthcoming Apple Store in Amsterdam, I noticed how great the construction barriers look. Typically barriers like this are erected simply to discourage prying eyes, but Apple often uses them as a marketing opportunity. This practice isn’t unique to Apple, of course, nor does the company always make such an effort. But when it does, the results are often charming. Here’s a look at some clever barriers Apple has used.